Twenty-year-old man sentenced to a year-and-a-half in prison for offences including being involved in the supply of cocaine and heroin in Portsmouth.

A twenty-year-old man from Portsmouth has been jailed for a year-and-a-half for offences including being involved in the supply of cocaine and heroin in the city.

On Wednesday 24 August 2022 officers from the High Harm Team (now Priority Crime Team) searched Brandon Tipling of Greetham Street in the city following suspicious activity on Grafton Street. A phone, £290 in cash, and 49 deals of crack cocaine and heroin valued at nearly £500 were seized by the officers. The phone later detailed messages that were consistent with the operation of a drug supply operation.

Tipling was subsequently charged for this and a number of other offences that he subsequently admitted including:

• The theft of three bikes, two of which were stolen from Fareham College in September 2024.
• Possession of a knife after CCTV showed Tipling hiding a knife on a shelf in the Premier Store on Isambard Brunel Rd on 7 November 2024 following a public order incident outside the shop.

At Portsmouth Crown Court on Friday 7 February Tipling was sentenced to a total of 18 months in prison for two offences of being concerned in the supply of a Class A drug, three thefts of bicycles, possession of a bladed article, and criminal damage.

PC Mike Ashcroft from Portsmouth’s Priority Crime Team said: “This custodial sentence sends a clear message that we will not tolerate the supply of drugs or associated violence and crime in Portsmouth, or anywhere in Hampshire or on the Isle of Wight. Tipling’s age at the time he was caught with the deals of cocaine and heroin informed the sentence he was given. However, this court result demonstrates our commitment to our communities that we will relentlessly pursue those involved in the supply of drugs in our city, they will be arrested and untimely they will face their day in court”.